Box Score

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In its final tune-up before the 2011 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Baseball Tournament, the State University of New York at New Paltz baseball team (20-17) fell to Skidmore College (25-8), 11-5, in a non-conference contest Tuesday afternoon at Castle Diamond.

A six-run fifth ultimately buried the Hawks, as the Thoroughbreds blew the game wide open by drawing three walks and pounding out four hits in the inning. On the afternoon, Skidmore boasted 12 hits to New Paltz's eight.

Brian Lowry led off the home half of the first with a double down the left-field line, and a successful double-steal attempt put runners on second and third with no outs. A groundout to the shortstop later on in the frame allowed Skidmore to get on the board. Zack Rudman blasted a solo shot in the third to put the Thoroughbreds on top, 2-0, and Matty Tatkow laced an RBI double to center to tack on one more run.

Junior designated hitter Jake Cameron (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) pulled the Hawks within one with a two-run homer in the fifth, but Skidmore tilted the momentum completely in its favor with six runs in the fifth. New Paltz got three runs back in the seventh, but the Thoroughbreds countered with two in the bottom of the frame.

New Paltz used five pitchers, and senior Brett Harrison (Merrick, N.Y.) was tagged with the loss, giving up three runs on three hits, five walks and two wild pitches across four innings of work. Skidmore's Bobby Stafutti claimed the win, throwing a scoreless two-hitter in the three frames in which he pitched.

Freshman first baseman Doug Marshall (Wantagh, N.Y.) was the lone multi-hit performer for the Hawks (2-for-4), while Lowry (2-for-4, two runs), Rudman (2-for-4, two runs, two RBI) and Jeremy Selecky (2-for-5) paced the Thoroughbred attack.

New Paltz returns to the diamond on Friday, May 6, for the first day of the 2011 SUNYAC Baseball Tournament. The fourth-seeded Hawks contest top-seeded and nationally-No. 7 SUNY Cortland at 1 p.m.